Jennifer, Generally this is not the case. I have extensive experience in this area, and as others have said, the reality is that the company has more resources to apply to other areas. This may be an expanded product line, or pursuing a whole new product line. More efficient CAD and CAE tools also allow more iterations and allows the exploration or more scenarios. You might also consider that simulation is not design. We do simulation to verify and refine designs.

Beth, you're a good writer. I hope that this article was written to meet a truly stringent deadline. First, the Gunning Fog Index for the article as a whole is 16.16. The score for the first paragraph alone was 32.77. I did the scoring because I found myself re-reading the article a number of times to absorb the information.

Second, the phrase is "make do," not "make due." The persons who commented didn't catch this because the average engineer wouldn't—it's not their field of interest.

Please understand that I'm not attacking or knocking you, your knowledge, or your usual writing skills. I'm merely presenting some facts and a possible attitude slip for your consideration. I AM a fan of yours.

Templatization of common tasks is a good way to put it, Alex. I think you're right about less fumbling around and more importantly, the streamlining and automating of tasks that are not only time-intensive, but oftentimes out of reach for any one other than those specialists that really know their way around these complex CAE packages.

As for your question on a separate version for HPC platforms, I don't think that's the case. I believe that this release has some capabilities which allow it to take advantage of HPC processing horsepower for solving some of the more complex problems. But there isn't a separate release specifically tuned for HPC computers.

If I read this correctly, the strength of the new release is templatization of common tasks. I'm guessing that this is almost a necessity as more features are folded into CAE programs. With ANSYS, given its fluid dynamics heritage, I'm assuming there's an added speed gain -- or rather, less fumbling around during the setup portion of your runs -- if you can automate/templatize common stuff. Is there a separate version for use with HPC (supercomputers) and if so are these same features available?

No, I don't think any one would make the case that adoption of ANSYS 14.0 could lead to downsizing. I think Rob is right to point out that by making the simulation process easier and more efficient for engineers, they can spend less time on labor-intensive, somewhat manual tasks and focus on real engineering work in the hopes of improving products or perhaps working on new products. By doing so, there is an argument to be made that the enhancements are helping companies optimize their engineering resources as opposed to having to hire new engineers to do the same work. That help clarify?

Usually in situation like this, the word is that time-saving tools allow engineers to work on other priorities. Even vendors don't want to say this will allow companies to cut the staff. But improved productivity typically adds up to smaller staffs.

One of the key areas of enhancement in ANSYS 14.0 is automating many of the steps required to build out a simulation and create a mesh. In that vein, by simplifying the steps involved and by cutting down the time it takes to create a complex simulation, ANSYS is making the case that you're reducing the labor burden associated with simulation efforts. As result, they'd argue, engineers can take less time to perform simulations, thus allowing them to move on to other development tasks. At the same time, you can have the same number of engineers performing more simulations, which which ultimately leads to better product, but without chewing up more of your resources.

A few weeks ago, Ford Motor Co. quietly announced that it was rolling out a new wrinkle to the powerful safety feature called stability control, adding even more lifesaving potential to a technology that has already been very successful.

It won't be too much longer and hardware design, as we used to know it, will be remembered alongside the slide rule and the Karnaugh map. You will need to move beyond those familiar bits and bytes into the new world of software centric design.

People who want to take advantage of solar energy in their homes no longer need to install a bolt-on solar-panel system atop their houses -- they can integrate solar-energy-harvesting shingles directing into an existing or new roof instead.

Focus on Fundamentals consists of 45-minute on-line classes that cover a host of technologies. You learn without leaving the comfort of your desk. All classes are taught by subject-matter experts and all are archived. So if you can't attend live, attend at your convenience.